Overtime: A NFL Romance

25: House Party

"Holy fuck, this place is amazing," Riley gawks as she walks through the front door of Miles's house. Her reaction matched mine the first time I saw it. "I was expecting a total bachelor pad, but this looks like a middle-aged mother lives here."

Miles continues to walk inside, "I don't know if I should take offense to that."

Riley follows me deeper into the house, "No. It's just so...Perfect. I don't know how to describe it. Have you shown this place to Better Homes and Gardens magazine?"

"Why would I do that?" He walks over to the couch, greeting Banjo with a belly rub, which he gladly accepts.

She runs her hand along the island table, "Girls would freak over this. Especially knowing this is Miles Moore's house. You'd make a killing."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever. Let me show y'all to your room. I'm putting you both in one room 'cause someone else might need one."

He throws a door open next to the kitchen, which I had never opened. I don't know why. I figured it was storage. He flips on the light and heads up the stairs, "Miles, why have you never shown me up here?"

"Oh good, you two haven't fucked up here," Emma mutters from behind me. I hear Riley snicker behind her.

"You never asked," he responds, taking a left at the top of the stairs. I scoff at his response, looking around when I reach the top. There are two doors to the left, "Bedroom and bathroom," he says, opening the doors. I peek inside; it's an average-sized room, not as extravagant as the master.

They set their bags on the bed, and I marched over to the other side of the house to investigate what was over there. There was a small couch with a television that hung on the wall. There were quite a few doors to look through. "Two more bedrooms, a bathroom, and storage, nosy."

I turn to face my boyfriend, "Just seeing what you're hiding from me."

"Well, you seemed freaked talking about ghosts that one time," he says in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear.

My eyes widened in horror as I took a step closer to him. "What do you mean? Did someone...die up here?"

He walks around me, opening a door on the end, "No, but whoever lived here left some weird shit when they left. Dolls, clothes, pictures, toys."

He walks in, flicking the dim light on. I almost screamed for him to stop as he cracked a dusty chest open as I watched from the door frame. I about close my eyes as he peaks down into it, scared something is going to jump out. He pulled out a picture frame and shoved it in my direction. I take the frame, cleaning the dust off with my finger to reveal a couple. The picture shows the two of them standing in front of the house, probably when they just bought it. They looked incredibly happy and in love. I flipped it over to see words written in ink: Bennett & I at our new house, 1912. I smiled and thought about the photo's backstory and what happened afterward.

I hand him back the photo as he watches me curiously, "what?"

"Don't you think the girl kind of looks like you?"

I furrow my eyes, looking down at the photo again, "You can hardly even see. The photo is so worn." Yes, we had the same figure, the same hair pinned in curls that were most likely blonde, and maybe even the same nose. Okay, there may be some coincidental similarities. "Hardly." He rolls his eyes, setting the frame down in the box and shutting it.

We head back down the hallway, and I see Emma leaning over the bathroom sink as she thickens her lashes with mascara. Right. Party.

I follow Miles back down the stairs, and I head into the bedroom so I can change. Instead, I kick my shoes off and lay on his bed, letting my body rest for a minute. I hadn't had a chance to chill all day. The bed dipped, and Miles lay down beside me, pulling me into him. "Five-minute nap," I grumbled, closing my eyes and resting my head on his chest.